Chapter 43 - Meeting the Prophet Again

"This is too ridiculous..." 

I couldn't help but twitch my mouth. To any informed onlooker, this scene was simply unbearable to watch - the shamelessness was off the charts!

I almost laughed out loud, but held it in for fear of upsetting Nicola. I could only cover my mouth and chuckle softly in the air.

"Pfft...I told you she has good acting skills. To cry like that..." 

Cyra's cheeks were also puffed up. Clearly she was in the same situation as me.

We watched as the Phoenix lay collapsed on the ground, the flames around its body already extinguished. Many people had gathered from all directions.

"But does this really count as avoiding the prophecy?"

I still felt everything had been resolved too easily. But Cyra's "deception" plan did seem theoretically sound, and I couldn't find any loopholes.

Upon careful thought, it was true that I had faced mortal danger once in the past three days, but strangely it was very different from what the prophecy foretold - the two situations did not match at all. Could it be that what Quintina originally prophesied was just Nicola's performance?

"Don't forget the fire three days ago was caused by the fight between angels and demons. By now many would have seen us already. If you don't want any more trouble, we should hurry back and hide!" 

Having finished her dramatics, Nicola flew over to urge us.

After all, the sun had not risen yet. I could not say for sure that I had escaped the curse of the prophecy. It would be foolish to let my guard down even one bit.

But upon returning to the room and seeing Carl's corpse, we were troubled again. Left with no choice, Nicola made a special trip out of the city to dispose of his body. As for Cyra and I, we were responsible for cleaning up the room.

"Forget it. The coachman is dead anyway and we can't take the carriage. We'll just fly directly to the Holy Capital after dawn! No need to explain anything to the inn, why bother with these messy affairs!"

The blood stains were too difficult to clean up. Cyra plopped down on the bed and decided to give up. 

"You're right..."

I nodded in agreement and looked out at the brightening sky, finally relieved about my fate.

"Nicola is quite ruthless! To just kill Carl with one stroke of her sword. Although that guy was up to no good, he was still a human after all. If it were me, I'm not sure I could do it!"

Lying on the bed and staring at the ceiling, Cyra suddenly asked me.

"Feliciana, If it were you, would you have done the same as her?"

"Well..."

I couldn't help but hesitate. To be honest, Nicola didn't do much wrong - leaving Carl alive would have been a hidden danger. But if I were in her shoes, I most likely wouldn't have been so decisive.

"Perhaps that is simply the rules of this world. Survival of the fittest, just like the martial arts world. " 

I sighed. Nicola clearly adapted very quickly. With such great power it is easy to stand above the law - this is also one of the flaws of the magical world. 

"Martial arts world..."

Cyra blankly repeated my words, seemingly lost in thought.

"Could the Supreme One really be in such a place?"

Fate reversed - I had finally managed to survive until dawn in that room!

That morning, we hid our wings again and returned to the scene of the incident - where the Phoenix had crashed.

The riverbank was now surrounded by layers of onlookers staring intently at the site. We barely squeezed our way to the front and saw the Phoenix still lying very weakly, its flames completely extinguished. Some water mages seemed to be healing its injuries.

"I heard this Phoenix flew here from the Dona Mountain Range in the east, where there is a Phoenix nest. Makalan City occasionally sees Phoenixes every few decades during mating seasons - it's considered an auspicious sign. "

There was a din of chattering around us. A man's voice suddenly rose up. 

"But this time was very abnormal! Because a Phoenix had just descended to mate a year ago, and they normally wouldn't fly so low over a city. So some suspect it may have been frightened by something..."

Nicola and I exchanged glances - this was an important clue!

The Dona Mountain Range lies between Astralrealm and Cresthaven. If not for this Phoenix having been startled, who knows if we would have survived. We immediately pricked up our ears to listen more.

"Could it be affected by that meteor strike a few days ago? Thankfully the angels helped otherwise the fire would have been as disastrous as the prophecy said. Speaking of which, wasn't that fire also caused by angels and demons fighting? Could there have been angels hiding in this city all along?"Another male voice asked.

"You clearly don't know this!" Suddenly a girl's voice cut in.

"Actually angels can hide their wings. I personally saw two perverted angels two nights ago! They were stripping men's clothes by the street. I went forward to stop them but they flashed their wings and flew off!"

"Wow how scandalous! Tell us, what did those two angels look like? Were they the same ones who shot down the Phoenix last night...?"

Well upon hearing such words, the three of us certainly couldn't stay here any longer. We fled in fright. 

But I was an innocent victim...

"Found it!" Just then, one of the church members tending to the Phoenix stood up holding an arrow.

"It must have been this arrow that startled the Phoenix, causing it to fly down the mountain. It has light element attached so the Phoenix flames couldn't purge it quickly!" 

"Isn't that..."I stared at the arrow in his hand, and an image suddenly came to mind.

...

We met Quintina again in the residence of the Makalan City Lord. Like us, she was just a passerby. But due to her identity as a prophet, she had been specially invited by the City Lord to stay as a guest. 

And our reason for being here was...we got exposed!

It couldn't be helped. Nicola and Cyra simply stood out too much. Attracted by the arrow in the Phoenix, we unfortunately missed the chance to escape. With one glance, that female adventurer recognized them, causing a huge stir. Now all the onlookers knew of these two perverted angels, and I became associated through guilt by association!

Fortunately, thanks to the True Church's guarantees and Nicola's "heroic feats" last night, we weren't treated too badly. 

But the matter still reached the City Lord. As one of the members who went to investigate the inn after the previous fire, upon learning of our identities he specially invited us to his residence as guests - after all, angels were a rare sight in such a small town. 

Of course, our main reason for accepting was that we heard Quintina was also staying here. There were too many mysteries surrounding the events of these past three days that had to be clarified with her.

"Feliciana is still alive..."

After hearing our story, Quintina fell silent for a long time before speaking in disbelief. 

"An unfulfilled prophecy is truly rare! Could this be because of the Fate Breaker or Star Breaker?"

"Fate Breaker?" 

The three of us asked in unison, it was our first time hearing this term.

"It is the general name for those who can change destiny in prophetic studies." 

She explained with closed eyes and a smile.

"Star refers to astrology. Unlike me who can only make rough predictions, astrologers are the original source of authentic fortune-telling. By observing the positions of celestial bodies as well as various changes on earth, they can accurately calculate future details to a high degree of precision! And with the aid of wind magic, the accuracy increased even more..."

"However, almost every determined future will still inexplicably fail to come to pass, concentrated among a tiny portion of people. They can alter established divinations, although not definitely - each choice probably only has a 50% chance, but accumulated over time that is enough to result in shocking reversals. So this type of person is collectively termed the Fate Breaker." 

Upon hearing this, I felt the concept of a Fate Breaker seemed vaguely familiar... 

"So you mean I or Feliciana am a Fate Breaker?"

Nicola asked first. She didn't seem to believe this reasoning very much.

"Not necessarily! Even if you aren't Fate Breakers, as long as you've interacted with one before and they made a prophecy-related choice, that could also influence the final result. So it's hard to determine." 

Quintina shook her head and asked us.

"Have you met many people in the past few days?"

"Quite a lot actually..."

I was suddenly troubled. How was I supposed to investigate this? It was simply impossible.

"According to records, although destiny has changed there should still be traces. For instance, did anything related to the prophecy happen around you all recently?"

"Ah! That meteor strike on the first night..." 

Hearing Quintina say this, I immediately recalled it. At that time the event left a deep impression on me, to the point I thought I had already escaped the curse of the prophecy.

"And also Carl's original assassination plan!"

Nicola added. She was right! Thinking back, according to Carl, his original idea was to make his move after we left Makalan City, out in the open wilderness. If he had really succeeded under those camping conditions, it could well have played out like the prophecy said.